Skylights have traditionally been used to provide additional illumination through standard roofing structures. Generally they were not intended, and thus not designed, to support the weight of one or more persons walking upon them.
Over the past several decades, nearly all new windows in residential and commercial buildings have more than one pane of glass and some type of thermally insulative structure or insulating glass unit (IGU). Typically they involve panes of glass separated by a thermal break spacer and sometimes involve evacuating the space in between or filling it with a noble gas such as argon or krypton. As these structures are typically not load bearing, the materials used to fabricate such structures are generally lightweight and can be produced off-site in a manufacturing facility.
Modern trends in building design often desire making rooftop surfaces into useable and even public spaces. This goal has made “walkable” skylights part of more and more building designs.
Walkable skylights must be designed to support the additional loading potential of numerous people walking and standing upon them. Accordingly, typically several layers of thick glass are employed. Supporting these glass panels requires robust framework.
Unfortunately, thick heavy glass, being supported by robust framework is incompatible with current thermal glass technology, such as currently used to create insulating glass units. Thus, while architects desire the aesthetics and functionality of walkable skylight units, such aspirations must compete with the goal of creating an energy efficient building.
My U.S. Pat. Nos. 9,441,378 and 9,598,867 demonstrate systems that provide walkable skylight structures while maintaining thermally insulative properties. These skylights are configured and sealed to prevent water infiltration. Since skylights in general have been notorious culprits for building water problems and become the immediate suspect when a roof leak is detected, however, additional safeguards and secondary drainage systems would help architects and customers alike to better trust the inclusion of a walkable skylight in their designs and structures.
While these units may be suitable for the particular purpose employed, or for general use, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present disclosure as disclosed hereafter.
In the present disclosure, where a document, act or item of knowledge is referred to or discussed, this reference or discussion is not an admission that the document, act or item of knowledge or any combination thereof was at the priority date, publicly available, known to the public, part of common general knowledge or otherwise constitutes prior art under the applicable statutory provisions; or is known to be relevant to an attempt to solve any problem with which the present disclosure is concerned.
While certain aspects of conventional technologies have been discussed to facilitate the present disclosure, no technical aspects are disclaimed and it is contemplated that the claims may encompass one or more of the conventional technical aspects discussed herein.